Charla’s deep roots in Bartlesville eventually brought her back to the community in which she grew up. She began her career with Schlumberger six years ago and was able to be involved with organizations and meet people that helped foster her passion for service for her community. Through volunteerism, Charla supports the Bartlesville Regional United Way, Oklahoma Indian Summer Festival, Young Professionals of Bartlesville and Ray of Hope Advocacy Center and Elder Care. Charla encourages anyone wishing to achieve professional success to remain diligent in his or her goal.

“Hard work and determination always pay off, even if the success you find is not what you had planned on,” she shares.

Ginny’s role as a landman means that she is primarily responsible for negotiation and administering agreements and analyzing and securing title for the development and exploration of oil and gas minerals. A lifelong Tulsan, her roots in the community have allowed her opportunities to support causes such as Family and Children’s Services and the Laura Dester Shelter. Ginny stays busy with juggling her career, volunteer work and a young family, but she still manages to find time to bake. In fact, she says her claim to fame is her excessive cookie baking and subsequent sharing.
 

A natural athlete, Richard grew up playing football, baseball and basketball. He continued the tradition, attending the University of Oklahoma and playing on their famed football team. He eventually shifted his focus from athletics to business, beginning Quantus Brand Consultancy, an “ideas to market” company that works with entrepreneurs and athletes to form businesses. Quantus also helps companies and organizations find their brand identity. Richard encourages anyone striving for success to keep at it.

“Don’t give up,” he says. “And once you reach your goals, help someone else reach theirs.”

Depending on when you’re reading this:
• April is almost here.
• April is here.
• It’s August and you’re reading this magazine while sitting in a dentist’s office, car dealership waiting room or my parents’ den.

Anyway, April is one of my favorite months. It’s when flowers bloom, raindrops fall and your grandpa dozes off during the final round of the Masters Golf Tournament. It’s also the season of Easter (yeah, I know Easter sometimes occurs in March, but it’s at its best during April).  Easter is one of my favorite holidays, which probably explains why I’m pre-diabetic. Because I like it so much, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite Easter traditions with you.

Play “Put the Easter Eggs in a Shoebox and Hide them in Your Sister’s Closet.” This tradition is always fun, especially when the second week of May finally rolls around. 

Going to church and listening to regulars complain about crowds. I’ll admit it: When I go to church, it’s usually on one of three major church holidays: Easter, Christmas or Mother’s Day. That’s why I always think it’s fun to listen to the little old lady up front complain about all the non-church-going people in attendance. That’s kind of like the mall complaining about too many customers.

Open a Cadbury Crème Egg to perfection.? Have you ever wondered why the drug store always has a box of Cadbury Crème Eggs next to the cash register? Well, it’s for people like me. What’s odd, though, is that I don’t really like Cadbury Crème Eggs. They are too rich and sweet, plus I’m always a little bit worried that the yellow part may have salmonella.

In fact, the only reason I really buy them is so I can practice opening one up like they do in the commercials. Seriously, in every commercial they show some hand model opening up the egg and the bright yellow cream is always perfectly in the center. It takes a while, but usually I can open it correctly on my 10th try. Now if only I can teach my pet rabbit to cluck like a chicken.  

Tell people this is the Cubs’ year.? I have a lot of faults. I drink too much beer, spend too much time on Twitter and still watch Big Brother. But perhaps my biggest fault is that I’m a Cubs fan. The Cubs know winning about as well as Charlie Sheen knows sobriety. That being said, April is the best time to be a Cubs fan because they are usually only a couple of games out of first by the end of the month. 

Have a birthday party. ?My birthday is April 13. Just about every other year or so it falls on or around Easter Sunday. This kind of stinks, because 1) people usually frown upon someone having a wild birthday party at McNellie’s the night before Easter Sunday, and 2) I have to do something that requires sobriety. Also, my grandmother always buys me pastel-colored shirts for my birthday. Pastels are lame.

If you’d like to wish Patrick a happy Cadbury-cracking, visit him at www.thelostogle.com.

If you’re a Facebook friend of Oklahoma City’s 51st Street Speakeasy, you’re already acquainted with Tuesday’s Team Trivia Night with The Lost Ogle. If not, you should be. Prohibition went out decades ago, so don’t be shy about forming your own team to compete at this weekly ritual at one of the city’s favorite pubs. Patrick of www.thelostogle.com says you don’t have to be a scholar to compete and go far, although scholars are welcome. He writes the questions for each week’s game night querying on subjects from U.S. presidents to Jersey Shore characters. Teams can have any number of players they want, but dividing the prize money is sweeter with fewer players – the winning team receives $75, second place $50 and $25 for third. Last place gets a coupon for free appetizers. How’s that for teamwork? 405.463.0470

The ballpark is calling – the Oklahoma City RedHawks are slated to play the Albuquerque Isotopes in their first home game of the season on April 15 at RedHawks Field. As in every spring, the air around Oklahoma City’s vibrant Bricktown District becomes filled with the smells of hot dogs and popcorn and with the sound of clinking baseball bats followed by cheers. That’s baseball season, and now that the RedHawks have become the Triple A-affiliate of the Houston Astros, fans have more to rave about. The franchises agreed to a player development contract in September, which could mean that Oklahoma City will see some of the best up-and-coming pitchers and hitters get the homefield advantage. For a complete schedule and tickets, go to www.oklahomacity.redhawks.com.

The Kings of Leon finally seem to have what they wanted. Beginning as a Southern rock and blues-inspired group, the Nashville band hit it big in Britain with its first albums, Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak. They were fast stars across the Atlantic, but it wasn’t until their fourth venture, Only by the Night, that the Followill clan could come home as certifiable rock stars. Now brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared and cousin Matthew are making a track back to Tulsa as U.S. gold- and platinum-selling artists to a stage where their hit-making sound belongs – on the BOK Center stage, April 8. But will it feel like a homecoming of sorts? Two of the brothers (Caleb and Nathan), as fans will know, were born in Oklahoma (City, to be specific). Most will agree, however, that the Kings’ ever-evolving sound will always have a home. www.bokcenter.com

Art is an adventure, and Gilcrease Museum is the destination for all who appreciate the fine work that goes into fine art. Sculptor Veryl Goodnight and painter Curt Walters are the featured artists at Rendezvous Artists’ Retrospective Exhibition and Art Sale, open to the public April 14-July 10, the annual show at Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. The sale is scheduled for April 15, but works that are not sold in the opening will be available for purchase through the summer. Walters and Goodnight teach classes, demonstrate their processes and will hold artist talks during the opening weekend. For more information, go online to www.gilcrease.org.

“I had this hand-made in Mexico,” says Jimmy Blacketer, pointing to an exquisitely veneered wooden podium. It’s a few days before opening at Waterfront Grill and he’s excited.  

“And over here, the wine rack”– he shows off a tall, elegant vitrine – “the necks are lined with leather to protect the bottles.”  

He’s planned every detail, from the umbrellas on the huge outdoor deck, designed to weather an 85 mile-per-hour gale, to the elaborately molded dishes designed to serve just one appetizer, Oysters St. Charles.

But Blacketer despises pretension.

“We want a guy to come straight off the golf course, grab a burger at the bar and feel welcome. And we want a couple dressed up for Saturday night to come for a romantic dinner, and not feel out of place.

“Restaurants are in my blood,” he says while helping workers install the pipes feeding a vast waterfall on the east side of the building.
He was born to the business. His father is Jim Blacketer, who has owned almost a hundred restaurants in his career, and the younger Blacketer, now 43, started working at 15. He soon went off on his own.

He bussed tables, managed a Chili’s and later ran the Tulsa outposts of his father’s Atomic Burritos chain. Then came the wildly popular Los Cabos on the Riverwalk in Jenks. He teamed with his father to create “an atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re on vacation.”

They succeeded.

Just south of Los Cabos was the only privately owned piece of vacant land on the river. When it came up for sale, the Blacketers grabbed the chance. After $5.5 million in building costs, Waterfront Grill was set to open. Meanwhile, Blacketer toured the country, stopping in restaurants coast to coast. He took notes. He made contacts. He took Rob Lowe’s personal chef back from the coast to prepare California-style sushi. (The Bonzai Roll, the chef’s own creation, has spicy tuna, jalapenos and avocado, topped with warm eel.) He got a supply contract for steaks from famed Allen Bros. in Chicago. One bite of those steaks and you’ll know they are USDA Prime. Bread comes fresh from a nearby artisan baker, Farrell’s. With sushi, a wide variety of sandwiches, inventive salads, juicy burgers and flatbread pizzas as well as more elaborate appetizers and entrees such as the artfully constructed Crab, Avocado & Mango Stack, there’s something to please every palate. 

A few days before opening night, there’s a preview party at Waterfront Grill. It’s a dress rehearsal for the staff. Attentive yet unobtrusive, they make sure the diners feel cosseted and welcome. At the long bar, set beside a wall of glass overlooking the river, guests order Stag’s Leap merlot by the glass and locally-brewed Mustang Ale. The bar is packed and clamorous, but beneath a ceiling of intricately woven mahogany strips, the dining area, though full, is spacious and calm. One wall is a counter overlooking the kitchen. It has six separate stations where a bevy of chefs work with rapid, trained precision. Steaks sizzle on the wood-burning grill. Blacketer stands at the counter, pointing, gesturing, and calling out orders. He feels like the father of a newborn baby: nervous, anxious and, with good reason, proud.

120 Aquarium Drive, Jenks. 918.518.6300. www.waterfrontgrilljenks.com

Maggie traces her musical beginnings back to the age of 5 when her parents enrolled her in piano lessons. By middle school, she was singing and writing her own songs. Maggie is currently touring the country to promote her latest CD, Good Morning & Good Night. Her songs have been featured on MTV series The Hills and The City as well as CBS’s The Young and the Restless. She also had the opportunity to perform “The National Anthem” at the first playoff game for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the L.A. Lakers in 2010. Just 24, Maggie has no plans to slow her touring and recording schedule.

“My goals for the future are to keep pressing on, no matter what,” she says. “As far as I’m concerned, I will have failed only if I stop doing what I love.”